Andrew Newell: Going Big On The World Cup and In The Air

What are your thoughts about racing in Sapporo, and sprinting in a dome?
It’s gunna be sick. I love racing in places where they can fit a lot of spectators. I guess it’s half in the dome and half out so it could be tricky waxing. We have an awesome wax staff, though, so it should be a good time.

Summer Training? Anything new over last year?
This year’s plan is to train very similar to the way we did last year, but just stepping it up a notch…around 715 hours and more intervals than last year.

Words of wisdom for the master blasters?
Have fun on your skis. Find the biggest hill you can and ski up it as hard as you can and then bomb down it as fast as you can. Its not a good training day unless you wreck at least once.

Springtime any notable trips? I heard a rumor, no Costa Rica spring surf sessions?
No, not a big surfing spring. Only went once to Hampton in NH. My spring trip was on snow this year to Mammoth, Ca. I went out there with Simons and the Fischer guys to shoot pictures on the Jibskate. We spent two full days in the park. It was sweet.

What about the snowboard concussion story?
Yeah… I was snowboarding with Foster and some guys two days after I got back from Japan spring World Cups. Apparently I went big off the knoll and whacked my noggin pretty good. I woke up in the hospital. I still don’t remember going to the mountain or anything that happened that day. It was funny – I guess I was talking to Foster and saying things like “Where are we?” I thought I was still in Europe.

What’s something about sprint racing people might not know? Why do you do it?
I like sprint racing because the more I do it, and the more we train for sprinting, the more fun it gets. There are so many things that go into a sprint race – tactics, speed, skis, weather – and no course is the same, so it’s like getting something different each World Cup.

What about racing Sprint Relays?
Doing a sprint relay has got to be the most painful thing on skis. It’s a true sufferfest. But its exciting too. Any kind of head to head racing is a lot of fun to me.

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